Film Series Aims to Get Public Talking About Sustainable Living

Published on August 30, 2010

SELINSGROVE—Susquehanna University will host a free public film series focused on sustainable living Sept. 2 through Dec. 8, starting Sept. 2 with the provocative “Food, Inc.,” an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, in Seibert Hall’s Isaacs Auditorium. All film showings are at 7:30 p.m.

According to the film’s official website, in “Food, Inc.,” “...filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.”

The film series reflects Susquehanna’s university theme for the 2010–11 academic year, A Sustainable Future. The 13 films tackle issues that hit most people close to home, addressing food production and safety, energy and alternative fuels, consumerism and fair trade. Showings will be followed by panel discussions moderated by faculty members or, in some cases, led by filmmakers. For example, the screening of “Carbon Nation” on Sept. 16 will conclude with a question-and-answer session with filmmaker Peter Byck via Skype, and “King Corn" and "Big River,” on Dec. 1, will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Ian Cheney.

Isaacs Auditorium is located in Seibert Hall. Stretansky Concert Hall is located in the Cunningham Center for Music and Art. For a map of campus, visit http://www.susqu.edu/visit.

The series is sponsored by the university’s Committee on Sustainability, University Theme Committee, Common Reading Program, Department of English and Creative Writing, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Center for Teaching and Learning, Department of Biology, Diversity Studies Program, International Studies Program and Jewish Studies Program.

The film series is just one of several upcoming events at Susquehanna centered on the theme of sustainability. Ecologist and Penn State Professor of Biology Christopher Uhl, author of “Developing Ecological Consciousness: Path to a Sustainable World,” will speak on Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. in Weber Chapel Auditorium, and Pulitzer Prize winner Edward O. Wilson, one of the most highly respected scientists in the world today, hailed as one of America's 25 Most Influential People by Time magazine, will speak on topics from his most recent book, “The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth,” on Oct. 20, also at 8 p.m. in Weber Chapel Auditorium.